Our Story
John and Kat met in March of 2020—over Facebook. After a bit of chatting back and forth through text, their first official date (in these strange COVID times) was in the form of a phone call that wound up lasting 6 short hours! They talked about anything and everything—from the puzzle Kat was doing and John’s newly found faith, to the shoulder surgery Kat just had and expectations for relationships. On their next couple of dates, John and Kat watched some movies together (virtually) and then decided to meet in person for a picnic of sandwiches and fake wine at Cape Fear River Trail. John officially asked Kat to be his girlfriend on April 10th, and she said yes! This catapulted them into many Sunday morning church/breakfast dates, runs, and episodes of LOST. John moved to Fayetteville in August so he didn't have to live so far from the love of his life, and they visited their families in Georgia and Kansas. Finally, on October 2nd, John broke out the old picnicware, brought Kat out to the same Cape Fear River trail, lavished her with notes and jewelry, and asked her to be his wife.
She said yes!
The Groom
John McGlone
Written by Kat
John Patrick McGlone was born in the small town of Brooklyn, New York, where he spent his days yelling up at his friends' 3rd floor windows to get him to play street wiffle ball. Throughout his childhood, John lived in many places: Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Georgia and South Carolina. He became a rogue-ish young man who chased girls and got in a few fights, but he loved school and art—and excelled in both (because he’s a nerd). When it came time for college, he decided to be a math teacher (again, because he’s a nerd), much to the chagrin of his art teachers, who had always admired his cartoony style. While at Nassau Community College, John discovered a love of programming and graduated with a degree in Computer Science. He then took a job in Kentucky at NKU (Northern Kentucky University), where he gained experience in Skyline Chili and iOS development. After that, he moved to San Francisco for the next 6 years; programmer by day, atheist in search of truth by night! John finally realized and accepted the truth of Christ as his Savior in 2019, while he was living in Garner, North Carolina. In March 2020, he met Kat, and the rest is history. John enjoys weighty and thoughtful discussions, mob movies, his Grandma, bourbon, motorcycles (no, not motorcycles), and being disproportionately handsome. He now lives just 7 minutes away from his gorgeous almost-bride in Fayetteville, North Carolina and works writing code for a startup that makes him do lots of math.
The Bride
Katrina Gerbrand
Written by John
Kat Gerbrand, also known as "Katrina" Gerbrand (and soon to be known as "MY WIFE!!!"") was born in Canada, but didn’t stay there very long because it was too cold. At age 3, Kat packed her bags and moved to the town of North Newton, Kansas. Kat decided it was warm enough (during most of the seasons anyway) and settled in. North Newton was good to Kat, that is until she turned 10 and it hit her with a car while she was riding her bike. I’m pretty sure it was Kansas’ attempt to send Kat to the land of Oz (and I’m not so sure that she DIDN’T go there) but Kat assures me, although she’s visited a few far-off lands in this life, Oz was not one of them. Kat survived North Newton’s attack and, as a reward, was blessed with 3 skills in this life:
1. Kat was granted the ability to solve 1000+ piece jigsaw puzzles—and get this—WITHOUT looking at the picture at the box!
2. Kat was blessed with the skill and determination to swim long distances in short amounts of time.
3. Kat was granted the “spirit of the healer” - a perk that has helped Kat be patient and kind with literally everybody, which put her on the path of being a doctor!
The spirit of North Newton also gave Kat the ability to find and pick the man that would make her his wife. Lucky for me, she didn’t use that until 2020!
Our Story
John and Kat met in March of 2020—over Facebook. After a bit of chatting back and forth through text, their first official date (in these strange COVID times) was in the form of a phone call that wound up lasting 6 short hours! They talked about anything and everything—from the puzzle Kat was doing and John’s newly found faith, to the shoulder surgery Kat just had and expectations for relationships. On their next couple of dates, John and Kat watched some movies together (virtually) and then decided to meet in person for a picnic of sandwiches and fake wine at Cape Fear River Trail. John officially asked Kat to be his girlfriend on April 10th, and she said yes! This catapulted them into many Sunday morning church/breakfast dates, runs, and episodes of LOST. John moved to Fayetteville in August so he didn't have to live so far from the love of his life, and they visited their families in Georgia and Kansas. Finally, on October 2nd, John broke out the old picnicware, brought Kat out to the same Cape Fear River trail, lavished her with notes and jewelry, and asked her to be his wife.
She said yes!
The Groom
John McGlone
Written by Kat
John Patrick McGlone was born in the small town of Brooklyn, New York, where he spent his days yelling up at his friends' 3rd floor windows to get him to play street wiffle ball. Throughout his childhood, John lived in many places: Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Georgia and South Carolina. He became a rogue-ish young man who chased girls and got in a few fights, but he loved school and art—and excelled in both (because he’s a nerd). When it came time for college, he decided to be a math teacher (again, because he’s a nerd), much to the chagrin of his art teachers, who had always admired his cartoony style. While at Nassau Community College, John discovered a love of programming and graduated with a degree in Computer Science. He then took a job in Kentucky at NKU (Northern Kentucky University), where he gained experience in Skyline Chili and iOS development. After that, he moved to San Francisco for the next 6 years; programmer by day, atheist in search of truth by night! John finally realized and accepted the truth of Christ as his Savior in 2019, while he was living in Garner, North Carolina. In March 2020, he met Kat, and the rest is history. John enjoys weighty and thoughtful discussions, mob movies, his Grandma, bourbon, motorcycles (no, not motorcycles), and being disproportionately handsome. He now lives just 7 minutes away from his gorgeous almost-bride in Fayetteville, North Carolina and works writing code for a startup that makes him do lots of math.
The Bride
Katrina Gerbrand
Written by John
Kat Gerbrand, also known as "Katrina" Gerbrand (and soon to be known as "MY WIFE!!!"") was born in Canada, but didn’t stay there very long because it was too cold. At age 3, Kat packed her bags and moved to the town of North Newton, Kansas. Kat decided it was warm enough (during most of the seasons anyway) and settled in. North Newton was good to Kat, that is until she turned 10 and it hit her with a car while she was riding her bike. I’m pretty sure it was Kansas’ attempt to send Kat to the land of Oz (and I’m not so sure that she DIDN’T go there) but Kat assures me, although she’s visited a few far-off lands in this life, Oz was not one of them. Kat survived North Newton’s attack and, as a reward, was blessed with 3 skills in this life:
1. Kat was granted the ability to solve 1000+ piece jigsaw puzzles—and get this—WITHOUT looking at the picture at the box!
2. Kat was blessed with the skill and determination to swim long distances in short amounts of time.
3. Kat was granted the “spirit of the healer” - a perk that has helped Kat be patient and kind with literally everybody, which put her on the path of being a doctor!
The spirit of North Newton also gave Kat the ability to find and pick the man that would make her his wife. Lucky for me, she didn’t use that until 2020!